Rare Earth Luminescent Materials for White LED Solid State Lighting

Solid-state white LED will be a new generation of energy-saving light source in 21 century. In order to emitting white light, one of important approaches is using luminescence conversion technology with rare earth phosphors, which can be excited by the 460 nm blue light or 400 nm near violet light emitted from the InGaN chip and then emit white light. The rare earths doped phosphors prepared by us such as YAG ： Ce^3＋, Ca1-xSrxS ： Eu^2＋, Ga2S3 ： Eu^2＋, MGa2S4：Eu^2＋ （M = Ca, Sr, Ba）, SrGa2＋xS4＋y ：Eu^2＋,（Ca1 - xSrx ） Se ： Eu^2 ＋ , SrLaGaaS6O ： Eu^2 ＋ , （ M1, M2 ） 10 （PO4）6XE（M1 = Ca, Sr, Ba; Ms = Eu, Mn; X = F, Cl, Br） and NaEu0.92 Sm0.08 （MoO4）5 were reported. They emit blue, green, yellow or red color light. Some white LEDs were made by these phosphors with blue or near violet InGaN chips and their chromaticity coordinate （x, y）, correlated color temperature Tc, and color rendering index Ra are reported.

Correlation dynamics of two-parameter qubit-qutrit states under decoherence

We investigate the dynamics of correlations for two-parameter qubit--qutrit states under various local decoherence channels including depalising, phase-flip, bit- and trit-flip, bit- and trit-phase-flip, and depolarizing channels. We find that, under certain conditions, the classical： correlations may not be affected by the noise or decay monotonically. The quantum correlations measured by measurement-induced disturbance （MID） show three types of dynamical behaviors： （i） monotonic ＇decay to zero, （ii） monotOniC decay to a nonzero steady value, （iii） increase from zero and then decrease to zero in a monotonic way. Consequently, we find that, differing from the dynamics of entanglement, the present classical and quantum correlations do not reveal sudden death behavior.

Characterization Method of Polycrystalline Materials Using Conductive Atomic Force Microscopy

An apparatus for characterization of polycrystalline materials based on conductive atomic torce microscopy （cAFM） is developed and a quantitative measurement of electrical characteristics of individual grains in polycrystalline ZnO ceramic is demonstrated. Improvement of the experimental method is presented. Experimental results illuminate unambiguously the different electrical characteristics between individual grains, suggesting the suitability and maneuverability of this method in the study of local structure or properties and their relationship in polycrystalline materials such as semi-conducting ceramics.

Distribution of donor states on the surface of AlGaN/GaN heterostructures

The uniform distribution model of the surface donor states in AlGaN/GaN heterostructures has been widely used in the theoretical calculation.A common and a triple-channel AlGaN/GaN heterostructure Schottky barrier diodes have been fabricated to verify the models,but the calculation results show the uniform distribution model can not provide enough electrons to form three separate 2DEGs in the triple-channel Al GaN/GaN heterostructure.Our experiments indicate the uniform distribution model is not quite right,especially for the multiple-channel AlGaN/GaN heterostructures.Besides,it is found the exponential distribution model possibly matches the actual distribution of the surface donor states better,which allows the 2DEG to form in each channel structure during the calculation.The exponential distribution model would be helpful in the research field.

Cluster mean-field study of spinor Bose-Hubbard ladder:Ground-state phase diagram and many-body population dynamics

We present a cluster mean-field study for ground-state phase diagram and many-body dynamics of spin-1 bosons confined in a two-chain Bose-Hubbard ladder(BHL).For unbiased BHL,we find superfluid(SF)phase and integer filling Mott insulator(Int MI)phase.For biased BHL,in addition to the SF and Int MI phases,there appears half-integer filling Mott insulator(HInt MI)phase.The phase transition between the SF and Int MI phases can be first order at a part of phase boundaries,while the phase transition between the SF and HInt MI phases is always second order.By tuning the bias energy,we report on the change of the nature of SF-MI phase transitions.Furthermore,we study the effect of the spin-dependent interaction on the many-body population dynamics.The spin-dependent interaction can lead to rich dynamical behaviors,but does not influence the particle transfer efficiency.Our results indicate a way to tune the nature of the SF-MI phase transition and open a new avenue to study the many-body dynamics of spinor bosons in optical lattices.

One-Step Generation of Multiqubit Greenberger-Horne-Zeilinger States in a Driven Circuit QED System

We propose an efficient scheme to generate multiqubit Greenberger-ttorne--Zeilinger （GHZ） states by one- step quantum operation in a driven circuit quantum electrodyna.mics （QED） system. Our proposal is based on a unitary evolution exp[-iλSx^2], with Sx being the collective spin operator in x direction and A a controllable parameter, induced by driving the resonator. The quantum operation avoids resonator-field decay and may achieve the GHZ states with ideal success probability. The feasibility with the experimentally-demonstrated circuit QED system is also discussed.

Microarrow sensor array with enhanced skin adhesion for transdermal continuous monitoring of glucose and reactive oxygen species

Conventional blood sampling for glucose detection is prone to cause pain and fails to continuously record glucose fluctuations in vivo.Continuous glucose monitoring based on implantable electrodes could induce pain and potential tissue inflammation,and the presence of reactive oxygen species(ROS)due to inflammationmay affect glucose detection.Microneedle technology is less invasive,yet microneedle adhesion with skin tissue is limited.In this work,we developed a microarrow sensor array(MASA),which provided enhanced skin surface adhesion and enabled simultaneous detection of glucose and H_(2)O_(2)(representative of ROS)in interstitial fluid in vivo.The microarrows fabricated via laser micromachining were modified with functional coating and integrated into a patch of a three-dimensional(3D)microneedle array.Due to the arrow tip mechanically interlocking with the tissue,the microarrow array could better adhere to the skin surface after penetration into skin.The MASA was demonstrated to provide continuous in vivo monitoring of glucose and H_(2)O_(2) concentrations,with the detection of H_(2)O_(2) providing a valuable reference for assessing the inflammation state.Finally,the MASA was integrated into a monitoring system using custom circuitry.This work provides a promising tool for the stable and reliable monitoring of blood glucose in diabetic patients.

Evolution of anomalous Hall effect in ferromagnetic Weyl semimetal Nb_(x)Zr_(1-x)Co_(2)Sn

Magnetic topological semimetal can host various topological non-trivial states leading to exotic novel transport properties.Here we report the systematic magneto-transport studies on the Heusler alloy Nb_(x)Zr_(1-x)Co_(2)Sn considered as a ferromagnetic(FM)Weyl semimetal.The cusp anomaly of temperature-dependent resistivity and large isotropic negative magneto-resistivity(MR)emerge around the FM transition consistent with the theoretical half-metallic predictions.The prominent anomalous Hall effect(AHE)has the same behavior with the applied field along various crystal directions.The Nb doping introduces more disorder resulting in the enhancement of the upturn for the temperature-dependent resistivity in low temperatures.With Nb doping,the AHE exhibits systemic evolution with the Fermi level lifted.At the doping level of x=0.25,the AHE mainly originates from the intrinsic contribution related to non-trivial topological Weyl states.

Optical study of magnetic topological insulator MnBi_(4)Te_7

We present an infrared spectroscopy study of the magnetic topological insulator MnBi_(4)Te_7 with antiferromagnetic(AFM) order below the Neel temperature TN= 13 K. Our investigation reveals that the low-frequency optical conductivity consists of two Drude peaks, indicating a response of free carriers involving multiple bands. Interestingly, the narrow Drude peak grows strongly as the temperature decreases, while the broad Drude peak remains relatively unchanged. The onset of interband transitions starts around 2000 cm^(-1), followed by two prominent absorption peaks around 10000 cm^(-1) and 20000 cm^(-1). Upon cooling, there is a notable transfer of spectral weight from the interband transitions to the Drude response. Below TN, the AFM transition gives rise to small anomalies of the charge response due to a band reconstruction.These findings provide valuable insights into the interplay between magnetism and the electronic properties in MnBi_(4)Te_7.

Two Monte Carlo-based simulators for imaging-system modeling and projection simulation of flat-panel X-ray source

The advantages of a flat-panel X-ray source(FPXS)make it a promising candidate for imaging applications.Accurate imaging-system modeling and projection simulation are critical for analyzing imaging performance and resolving overlapping projection issues in FPXS.The conventional analytical ray-tracing approach is limited by the number of patterns and is not applicable to FPXS-projection calculations.However,the computation time of Monte Carlo(MC)simulation is independent of the size of the patterned arrays in FPXS.This study proposes two high-efficiency MC projection simulators for FPXS:a graphics processing unit(GPU)-based phase-space sampling MC(gPSMC)simulator and GPU-based fluence sampling MC(gFSMC)simulator.The two simulators comprise three components:imaging-system modeling,photon initialization,and physical-interaction simulations in the phantom.Imaging-system modeling was performed by modeling the FPXS,imaging geometry,and detector.The gPSMC simulator samples the initial photons from the phase space,whereas the gFSMC simulator performs photon initialization from the calculated energy spectrum and fluence map.The entire process of photon interaction with the geometry and arrival at the detector was simulated in parallel using multiple GPU kernels,and projections based on the two simulators were calculated.The accuracies of the two simulators were evaluated by comparing them with the conventional analytical ray-tracing approach and acquired projections,and the efficiencies were evaluated by comparing the computation time.The results of simulated and realistic experiments illustrate the accuracy and efficiency of the proposed gPSMC and gFSMC simulators in the projection calculation of various phantoms.

Semi-implantable device based on multiplexed microfilament electrode cluster for continuous monitoring of physiological ions

Modern medicine is increasingly interested in advanced sensors to detect and analyze biochemical indicators.Ion sensors based on potentiometric methods are a promising platform for monitoring physiological ions in biological subjects.Current semi-implantable devices are mainly based on single-parameter detection.Miniaturized semi-implantable electrodes for multiparameter sensing have more restrictions on the electrode size due to biocompatibility considerations,but reducing the electrode surface area could potentially limit electrode sensitivity.This study developed a semi-implantable device system comprising a multiplexed microfilament electrode cluster(MMEC)and a printed circuit board for real-time monitoring of intra-tissue K^(+),Ca^(2+),and Na^(+)concentrations.The electrode surface area was less important for the potentiometric sensing mechanism,suggesting the feasibility of using a tiny fiber-like electrode for potentiometric sensing.The MMEC device exhibited a broad linear response(K^(+):2–32 mmol/L;Ca^(2+):0.5–4 mmol/L;Na^(+):10–160 mmol/L),high sensitivity(about 20–45 mV/decade),temporal stability(>2weeks),and good selectivity(>80%)for the above ions.In vitro detection and in vivo subcutaneous and brain experiment results showed that the MMEC system exhibits good multi-ion monitoring performance in several complex environments.This work provides a platform for the continuous real-time monitoring of ion fluctuations in different situations and has implications for developing smart sensors to monitor human health.

Exact Calculation of Local Density of States in Two-Dimensional Photonic Crystals

An exact calculation method of local density of states （LDOS） in two-dimensional （2D） photonic crystals （PCs） is presented. In order to calculate the LDOS, the eigen-equation of magnetic field is first solved by the plane-wave expansion method, then the eigen-modes of electric-field are obtained. There are two different ways to solve the eigen-equantion of magnetic field and three different ways to obtain the eigen-modes of the electric-field. In comparison of the numerical results from these different ways, an exact and fast method for calculating the LDOS in PCs is found. With use of this method, we investigate the LDOS of the 2D PCs consisting of a triangular lattice of cylinders. The results show the large LDOS is favorable to reside in higher dielectric-constant medium in high frequency region, rather than in lower dielectric-constant medium.

Electrochemical and colorimetric dual-signal detection of Staphylococcus aureus enterotoxin B based on AuPt bimetallic nanoparticles loaded Fe-N-C single atom nanocomposite

Sensitive detection of Staphylococcus aureus enterotoxin B(SEB)is of importance for preventing food poisoning from threatening human health.In this work,an electrochemical and colorimetric dual-signal detection assay of SEB was developed.The probe(Ab2/AuPt@Fe-N-C)was bound to SEB captured by Ab1,where the Ab2/AuPt@Fe-N-C triggered methylene blue degradation and resulted in the decrease of electrochemical signal.Furthermore,the probe catalyzed the oxidation of 3,3’,5,5’-tetramethyl biphenyl to generate a colorimetric absorbance at 652 nm.Once the target was captured and formed a sandwich-like complex,the color changed from colorless to blue.SEB detection by colorimetric and electrochemical methods showed a linear relationship in the concentration ranges of 0.0002-10.0000 and 0.0005-10.0000 ng/mL,with limits of detection of 0.0667 and 0.1670 pg/mL,respectively.The dual-signal biosensor was successfully used to detect SEB in milk and water samples,which has great potential in toxin detection in food and the environment.

Design of AI-Enhanced and Hardware-Supported Multimodal E-Skin for Environmental Object Recognition and Wireless Toxic Gas Alarm

Post-earthquake rescue missions are full of challenges due to the unstable structure of ruins and successive aftershocks.Most of the current rescue robots lack the ability to interact with environments,leading to low rescue efficiency.The multimodal electronic skin(e-skin)proposed not only reproduces the pressure,temperature,and humidity sensing capabilities of natural skin but also develops sensing functions beyond it—perceiving object proximity and NO2 gas.Its multilayer stacked structure based on Ecoflex and organohydrogel endows the e-skin with mechanical properties similar to natural skin.Rescue robots integrated with multimodal e-skin and artificial intelligence(AI)algorithms show strong environmental perception capabilities and can accurately distinguish objects and identify human limbs through grasping,laying the foundation for automated post-earthquake rescue.Besides,the combination of e-skin and NO2 wireless alarm circuits allows robots to sense toxic gases in the environment in real time,thereby adopting appropriate measures to protect trapped people from the toxic environment.Multimodal e-skin powered by AI algorithms and hardware circuits exhibits powerful environmental perception and information processing capabilities,which,as an interface for interaction with the physical world,dramatically expands intelligent robots’application scenarios.

Interfacial parasitic reactions of zinc anodes in zinc ion batteries:Underestimated corrosion and hydrogen evolution reactions and their suppression strategies

Featured with high power density,improved safety and low-cost,rechargeable aqueous zinc-ion batteries(ZIBs) have been revived as possible candidates for sustainable energy storage systems in recent years.However,the challenges inherent in zinc(Zn) anode,namely dendrite formation and interfacial parasitic reactions,have greatly impeded their practical application.Whereas the critical issue of dendrite formation has attracted widespread concern,the parasitic reactions of Zn anodes with mildly acidic electrolytes have received very little attentions.Considering that the low Zn reversibility that stems from interfacial parasitic reactions is the major obstacle to the commercialization of ZIBs,thorough understanding of these side reactions and the development of correlative inhibition strategies are significant.Therefore,in this review,the brief fundamentals of corrosion and hydrogen evolution reactions at Zn surface is presented.In addition,recent advances and research efforts addressing detrimental side reactions are reviewed from the perspective of electrode design,electrode-electrolyte interfacial engineering and electrolyte modification.To facilitate the future researches on this aspect,perspectives and suggestions for relevant investigations are provided lastly.

Synthesis of rare earth sulfides and their UV-vis absorption spectra

Rare earth sulfides were systematically synthesized via the sulfurization of their commercial oxide powders using CS2 gas to shorten sulfurization time, and their UV-vis absorption spectra were investigated. The appropriate sulfurization conditions were studied. For the rare earth sulfides with the same crystal structure, the sulfurization temperature showed increasing tendency with the decrease of rare earth element atomic radii. The UV-vis absorption spectra of rare earth sulfides did not depend on the crystal structure of rare earth sulfides, but on the 4f electronic structure of rare earth element. The data showed that the optical band gaps of rare earth sulfides were irregular, and the values ranged from 1.65 to 3.75 eV.

Direct Patterning of Carbon Nanotube via Stamp Contact Printing Process for Stretchable and Sensitive Sensing Devices

Flexible and wearable sensing devices have broad application prospects in bio-monitoring such as pulse measurement,motion detection and voice recognition.In recent years,many significant improvements had been made to enhance the sensor’s performance including sensitivity,flexibility and repeatability.However,it is still extremely complicated and difficult to prepare a patterned sensor directly on a flexible substrate.Herein,inspired by typography,a lowcost,environmentally friendly stamping method for the mass production of transparent conductive carbon nanotube(CNT)film is proposed.In this dry transfer strategy,a porous CNT block was used as both the seal and the ink;and Ecoflex film was served as an object substrate.Welldesigned CNT patterns can be easily fabricated on the polymer substrate by engraving the target pattern on the CNT seal before the stamping process.Moreover,the CNT film can be directly used to fabricate ultrathin(300μm)strain sensor.This strain sensor possesses high sensitivity with a gauge factor(GF)up to 9960 at 85%strain,high stretchability(>200%)and repeatability(>5000 cycles).It has been used to measure pulse signals and detect joint motion,suggesting promising application prospects in flexible and wearable electronic devices.

Enhanced Performance of a Monolayer MoS_2/WSe_2 Heterojunction as a Photoelectrochemical Cathode

Transition-metal dichalcogenide(TMD) semiconductors have attracted interest as photoelectrochemical(PEC) electrodes due to their novel band-gap structures,optoelectronic properties, and photocatalytic activities.However, the photo-harvesting efficiency still requires improvement. In this study, A TMD stacked heterojunction structure was adopted to further enhance the performance of the PEC cathode. A P-type WSe_2 and an N-type Mo S_2 monolayer were stacked layer-by-layer to build a ultrathin vertical heterojunction using a micro-fabrication method.In situ measurement was employed to characterize the intrinsic PEC performance on a single-sheet heterostructure.Benefitting from its built-in electric field and type II band alignment, the MoS_2/WSe_2 bilayer heterojunction exhibited exceptional photocatalytic activity and a high incident photo-to-current conversion efficiency(IPCE). Comparing with the monolayer WSe_2 cathode, the PEC current and the IPCE of the bilayer heterojunction increased by a factor of 5.6 and enhanced 50%, respectively. The intriguing performance renders the MoS_2/WSe_2 heterojunction attractive for application in high-performance PEC water splitting.

Direct Synthesis of Dimethyl Carbonate from CO_2 and CH_3OH Using 0.4nm Molecular Sieve Supported Cu-Ni Bimetal Catalyst

The 0.4 nm molecular sieve supported Cu-Ni bimetal catalysts for direct synthesis of dimethyl carbonate (DMC) from CO 2 and CH 3 OH were prepared and investigated. The synthesized catalysts were fully characterized by BET, XRD (X-ray diffraction), TPR (temperature programmed reduction), IR (infra-red adsorption), NH 3-TPD (temperature programmed desorption) and CO 2-TPD (temperature programmed desorption) techniques. The results showed that the surface area of catalysts decreased with increasing metal content, and the metals as well as Cu-Ni alloy co-existed on the reduced catalyst surface. There existed interaction between metal and carrier, and moreover, metal particles affected obviously the acidity and basicity of carrier. The large amount of basic sites facilitated the activation of methanol to methoxyl species and their subsequent reaction with activated carbon dioxide. The catalysts were evaluated in a continuous tubular fixed-bed micro-gaseous reactor and the catalyst with bimetal loading of 20% (by mass) had best catalytic activities. Under the conditions of 393 K, 1.1 MPa, 5 h and gas space velocity of 510 h 1 , the selectivity and yield of DMC were higher than 86.0 % and 5.0 %, respectively.

Preparation and thermoelectric properties of ternary rare earth sulfide γ-Ce_(3–x)Eu_xS_4

The effect of Eu-substitution on the density and thermoelectric properties of ternary sulfide Ce3-xEuxS4 （0≤x≤0.8） compacts was investigated. Ce3-xEuxS4 powders were prepared via the sulfurization of the oxide using CS2 gas at 1473 K. The pressureless sintered Ce3-xEuxS4 compacts in the atmosphere were crystallized in the T-phase. The density of the Ce3-xEuxS4 compacts increased with the increasing of Eu-substitution. Eu-substitution yielded a higher Seebeck coefficient and lower electrical resistivity. The highest value of the thermoelectric power factor of 1.41×10^-4 W/K^2m was obtained for the Ce2.2Eu0.8S4 compact at 673 K. It indicated that Eu-substitution was effective for improving thermoelectric properties of Ce3-xEuxS4.